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Against the backdrop of plummeting popularity at home, the French president has an ambitious plan to re-launch the dynamism of the European Union.

Sarkozy's original grand design was to put his stamp on the closer integration of the European Union hinged upon the success of the Lisbon Treaty, a surrogate for the EU Constitution, killed in 2005.

The Treaty, if approved by the 27 members of the EU, would reform the EU's voting rules, establish new foreign-policy mechanisms, and enhance the European parliament's powers for the sake of boosting the EU's efficiency and ability to assume a greater role in the world.

In short, the Lisbon Treaty would press ahead with the EU towards a more supranational direction, a certain deviation from the Gaullist tradition of French foreign policy.

Unfortunately, with Ireland's voters saying "no" to the Lisbon Treaty on June 12, Sarkozy was forced to tone down his ambitious plan.

However, a dynamic Sarkozy had another big idea: the Mediterranean Union. His original grandiose vision was "a union that would overcome all hatreds to make way for a great dream of peace and civilisation".

In its earlier version, the Mediterranean Union was to include only the Southern countries of the EU and another 17 Mediterranean countries. Facing increasing hostility from some northern countries, particularly Germany, the French president had to water down the final plan, integrating the Mediterranean Union as part of a EU project by taking over from the old "Barcelona process", launched in 1995.

On July 13, Sarkozy successfully hosted the grand summit to launch a Mediterranean Union, with a turnout of 42 Mediterranean and European heads of state and government. The only absentee was Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi who boycotted the event, deeming that it smacked of colonialism.

Despite all the diplomatic fanfare, the summit achieved little of substance.

On Middle East peace, there were gestures and words but no concessions. No agreement was reached on financing or where the Union's secretariat would be located.

Another pressing item on the agenda for the French presidency of the EU is the so-called "four pillars for the European process".

The most pressing one is to achieve a certain "embryonic common energy policy". Sarkozy hoped to initiate a process that could culminate in having a united front among all EU members in negotiations with energy-producing countries.

In the same context, an agreement is needed on curbing carbon emissions by 20 per cent for the year 2020.

The second pillar is concerned with the reform of the "common agricultural policy (CAP)", which was delayed by former French president Jacques Chirac until 2013. However, with the skyrocketing prices of agricultural products, representatives of a number of EU countries, including trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, would like to see the EU subsidy reduced and a more liberal approach employed. This inevitably goes against the EU's agricultural producing countries, notably Spain, Poland and France, which deem a sound and subsidized agricultural sector necessary to ensure food security.

The third pillar on the agenda deals with illegal immigrants. A certain "immigration pact" aimed at regularising illegal immigrants, strengthening border controls and harmonizing procedures for repatriating illegal immigrants is required.

The fourth important item on the French presidency's agenda is joint European defence. Sarkozy has already declared that the French will reintegrate fully into Nato, after four decades of being outside of Nato's integrated command. However, as a preliminary gesture, he wants the US's blessing for joint European defence.

Whether Nicolas Sarkozy will be successful in moving the wheels of EU integration further ahead, depends on him not only exhausting all of his charms and diplomatic skill, but also a certain amount of luck must be on his side.